ferrous (fer us)

[L. ferrum, iron, + -ous.] Pertaining to or obtained from iron; specifically, pertaining to iron in the bivalent condition: contrasted with ferric (which see). It is nece ary to ascertain whether the quantity of acetic acid present is sufficient to keep the ferrous acetate in solution. Workshop Receipts , 2d ser., p. 327. Ferrous compounds, those compounds in which the basic radical is a single bivalent atom of iron, as ferrous oxid, FeO. Also called iron protoxid . The ferrous compounds whose radical is a single bivalent atom of iron. Cooke, Chem. Philos.